Ten Boomer Super Bowl Moments

There are very few Boomers who don’t remember at least one Super Bowl. The “holy of holies,” as Madonna, this year’s halftime entertainer, called it, has been played every year since 1966 to crowds of up to 101,000—and now to millions around the world. Whether you like the ads the halftime show or the actual football game, here are a few moments to remember:

Joe Namath Predicts A Win

Namath, a hunky quarterback who’d played at Alabama under the legendary coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, instantly won New York City’s heart when he came to quarterback for the Jets in 1965. He wore fur coats, he opened restaurants named Broadway Joe’s, he dated beautiful women. But Super Bowl III, in 1969, was the highlight of his career. The Jets were given no chance against the Baltimore Colts, but Namath, cocky as always, said, “We’re gonna win the game. I guarantee it.” He came through on the guarantee, defeating the Colts 16-7.

The Yellow Ribbons Fly At Super Bowl XV On January 20, 1981, Iran released 52 Americans who had been held hostage for 444 days in Tehran. Five days later, the Oakland Raiders and the Philadelphia Eagles met in Super Bowl XV, and dozens of cheerleaders, as well as many fans, waved yellow ribbons in celebration of the hostages’ return. It was the first time, but not the last, that an explicit political issue was commemorated in the Super Bowl.

The Mac Takes Center Stage It’s typical that Steve Jobs should have started the tradition of creative ads during the Super Bowl. His 1984 ad, depicting rows of Orwellian automatons, an ominous Big Brother and a spectacularly defiant woman, made the Mac seem like a revolutionary, life-changing product. And for millions of Boomers, it was .

Whitney Sings The Star-Spangled Banner The Gulf War took center stage during the opening minutes at Super Bowl XXV in 1991. Whitney Houston, then at the top of her game, sang an emotional Star-Spangled Banner that had many in the crowd in tears. Concern about the war was running so high the halftime show (New Kids On The Block) was delayed until after the game so that during intermission, ABC could bring fans up to date on Operation Desert Storm.

Michael Jackson Moonwalks In 1993, the King of Pop performed the thrilling “Billie Jean,” moonwalking to delirious cheers from the crowd. And for the song “Black or White,” he wore the white shirt and T shirt that became one of his most memorable stage ensembles.

John Elway Bags The Big One Elway, a perennial good-guy quarterback, won his first of two Super Bowls in 1998 – sixteen years after he suffered a humiliating defeat as a Stanford quarterback in perhaps the most controversial play in college football history. (Basically, the Stanford band ran on to the field before the game was over.) Now, though, Elway has two Super Bowl rings to console him, and the possibility of more to come: As head of football operations for the Denver Broncos, he’s got this quarterback named Tim Tebow.

The Rolling Stones Get Censored In January 1967, Ed Sullivan censored the Rolling Stones, one of the longest-running Boomer bands, by demanding that they change their lyrics in the hit “Let’s Spend The Night Together.” Thirty-nine years later, when the Stones performed during Super Bowl XL in 2006, they got censored again, this time in the song “Start Me Up.” (ABC imposed a five-second microphone gap.) However, broadcast executives didn’t change a word of another song, the 1965 anthem “Satisfaction.” See how far we’ve come?

Bruce Springsteen Rocks Out The Boss just might be the ultimate Boomer idol: When he performed at Super Bowl XLIII in 2009, he was 58, muscular and still rocking out after a career that began in the early 1970s. For his closing number, he did “Glory Days,” a wry commentary on remembering how much better things were when you were younger. What Boomer doesn’t feel that way, at least once in a while?

Betty White Gets Hammered Through the unlikely vehicle of a 2010 Super Bowl Snickers commercial that showed Betty White being pummeled in a football game, Boomer fans remembered what a great entertainer she was, and a new generation found her just as funny. Today, she's one of the most popular entertainers around.

U2 Says It All Although U2’s lead singer Bono has occasionally alienated some fans with his left-wing political views, he and the band were strictly in the mainstream when they performed at Super Bowl XXXVI, in 2002. The most emotional Super Bowl took place only a few months after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and U2 paid a dignified tribute to the victims, scrolling their names as the band played “MLK” and “Where The Streets Have No Name.” At the end, Bono opened his jacket to show an American flag, and the crowd went crazy. It’s no wonder this show consistently rates No. 1 among Super Bowl entertainments.